


Someone's Been Sleeping in My Bed

by AriadneKurosaki



Series: IchiRuki Month 2020 [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, IchiRuki Month, Kon is a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25720492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriadneKurosaki/pseuds/AriadneKurosaki
Summary: The bed held not just a still-sleeping Rukia, but a second, larger shape beneath the comforter.
Relationships: Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo
Series: IchiRuki Month 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858906
Comments: 23
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

Ichigo unlocked the door to the apartment he shared with his wife and stepped inside, carrying his suitcase so that the sound of wheels dragging on the wooden floor wouldn’t wake her. He’d been gone for six weeks, seconded to a hospital in Sapporo where he’d been training other pediatric physicians in a new treatment plan. He’d taken the opportunity, eager to help spread information about the new, potentially life-saving method across the country, but…

He’d missed home. Ichigo took a deep breath as he shut the apartment door and locked it. The small but modern apartment west of Tokyo smelled faintly of Rukia’s dinner – something with a lot of yuzu, he thought. There was a lingering scent of citrus in the air. Ichigo took his shoes off and set them on the small shoe rack next to the door. In the silence of the darkened home he could hear soft padding on the floor, and grinned as a small, furry body rubbed up against his legs. “Hey, Kon,” he whispered, and leaned down to scratch the orange cat between his ears.

Kon purred and flopped over to show Ichigo his belly, which the orange-haired doctor obediently rubbed. Satisfied by his owner’s affections, Kon rose, headbutted Ichigo’s hand one more time, and then trotted deeper into the apartment.

Ichigo straightened up and left his suitcase by the door; it was nearly one in the morning and unpacking could wait until he’d gotten some sleep. Ichigo padded on socked feet through the dark kitchen and living room. He made a stop in the bathroom to shower off the day: after one last day at the hospital, he’d taken a late flight from Sapporo back to Tokyo. The actual flight was mercifully short, but he’d spent time waiting in New Chitose Airport, and then another hour on the airport bus back to Karakura.

Shower completed, Ichigo dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist. He padded from the bathroom to their bedroom and stepped inside. The moon, waxing and nearly full, spilled in through the blinds and gave him enough light to find and open the bottom drawer of his dresser, where he kept his pajamas. He dressed and put his towel away, then came back into the bedroom.

And for the first time, Ichigo noticed the bed. The bed, which held not just a still-sleeping Rukia, but a second, large shape underneath the comforter.

Shock ripped through him and Ichigo stumbled backwards. Rukia was _sleeping with someone_? In _their_ bed? Sure, he’d been gone six weeks – but they’d faced longer times apart, like when his post-undergraduate residency had taken him to Osaka for a year before he could get a transfer to Chofu. And they loved each other, had been through _so_ much together, Rukia would _never_ …

Ichigo fought down the feelings of betrayal and the urge to turn and run. Instead his palm came down on the switch by the door and light flooded into the bedroom from the circular pendant light hanging from the ceiling. When Rukia stirred and mumbled “Ichi—go?”, still mostly asleep, he leapt forward and grabbed the comforter, flinging it from the bed as Rukia whined a complaint. He opened his mouth to yell at whomever was in _his_ bed (on his _side_ of the bed, no less), next to _his_ wife, to get out.

And then he stopped. Because the “person” in his side of the bed was a giant chappy plushie.

Violet eyes blinked at him from over the enormous stuffed animal, and Rukia shivered a little as cool air washed over her bare arms.

Ichigo closed his eyes as relief – and guilt, for doubting her – washed over him. “I’m home,” he said unnecessarily. “Where did… _that_ come from?”

Rukia laughed, her voice little husky from sleep. “I won it.”

“You won a giant chappy,” Ichigo repeated.

“Mhm.” She yawned and draped herself over the giant _thing_. “It’s very soft. It’s kept me company for the past month while you’ve been gone.”

Ichigo laughed helplessly. The stuffed animal was bigger than his lovely wife. “Well, it needs to find a new place to sleep.”

“Does it?” Rukia’s eyes were sparkling with humor.

Ichigo turned the light back off and stepped closer to the bed. “Mhm,” he confirmed and leaned down, lips a hair’s breadth from hers. “Because I haven’t seen you in six weeks and I don’t want to cuddle with chappy instead of you.”

Rukia took the opportunity to steal a kiss from him. “Sappy,” she teased, but let Ichigo take the giant plush away. He set it on the chair in the corner of their room, facing _away_ from the bed, and then retrieved the comforter from the floor.

He spread the comforter back over the bed and then climbed in, arms coming around Rukia. “I missed you,” he grumbled and kissed her. “I’m never taking a work trip that long again.”

“Missed you too. You can tell me all about it in the morning,” Rukia murmured back.

Already starting to fall asleep, Ichigo hummed his agreement and tugged her closer. Rukia closed her eyes and snuggled into him. They drifted to sleep, dappled in the light of the white moon.


	2. The Feud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo has a problem: his wife and his cat are fighting over chappy.

“Rukia, you can’t fight with the cat,” Ichigo said with a heavy sigh.

“He _stole_ from me.” Rukia stabbed her finger at Kon, who lifted his head briefly, yawned hugely, and then rested his head on his paws once more.

Ichigo ran his fingers through his flame-bright hair. “He didn’t _steal_ , he just thinks your chappy plush is a new bed. And you can’t be mad at him for wanting to sleep on it. You’re the one who keeps saying that it’s really soft.”

Indeed, the soft surface upon which the orange cat had settled was a chappy plushie larger than Rukia. The rabbit plush was situated on a chair in the corner of their bedroom, carefully facing _away_ from the bed (as Ichigo had argued that he didn’t want a weird rabbit staring at them while they slept). Kon had draped himself on the lap of the plush, head draped over one leg and tail spread over the other. Soft purring rose from the big cat, and he opened his eyes to look at his owners, blinking at them slowly.

“But it’s _my_ chappy,” Rukia said, pouting rather childishly. “And he refuses to get up! He’s getting orange fur all over it!”

“That’s what we have lint rollers for,” Ichigo grumbled. He sighed again and rubbed his temples. “And besides, you need to get ready for work. You don’t actually have time to cuddle with chappy.”

She stuck her tongue out at him but sauntered off to the bathroom. As the sound of the shower started up, Ichigo crossed his arms and looked down at Kon. “You know she’s going to fight you for the plushie after work,” he said matter-of-factly. “And you’re smaller than her, so you’ll probably lose.”

Kon just yawned again and cuddled more deeply into the stuffed animal’s lap.

“Kon, stop. Chappy’s _mine_!”

Ichigo closed the apartment door behind him and sighed. True to his prediction, it sounded like Rukia was still fighting with the cat. He set his shoes on the shoe rack and hung up his coat before walking into the living room. It was all he could do not to snort with laughter: Rukia was on their oversized couch with the enormous plush, one arm wrapped around the neck of the stuffed animal. As Kon climbed up onto chappy to try and find a resting place, Rukia tried to push him off. The cat meowed loudly and climbed back up, claws kneading the white fabric surface.

“Stop it! You’ll rip chappy!”

“He’s a cat, Rukia, he doesn’t speak Japanese.” Ichigo scooped Kon off the plush, sat down next to Rukia – and the stuffed animal – and let Kon drape over his lap instead. The cat kneaded Ichigo’s jeans, claws picking at the fabric, before he settled down and draped one paw over the chappy plushie’s leg.

“He should know better than to mess with my chappy,” Rukia said with a sniff, and went back to watching… Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

“What _is_ this? Is this a chappy _cartoon_?” he asked.

“No one in this home appreciates chappy the way I do,” Rukia said with a melodramatic sigh.

Ichigo just rolled his eyes and scratched Kon behind the ears, causing an increase in the volume of purring coming from his lap. “Weren’t we going to watch the next episode of The Witcher tonight?” he asked.

“That’s for _after_ dinner,” she told him, and turned, draping herself over the plush again so she could look at him. “What _are_ we having for dinner?” Rukia’s hand reached out and rubbed Kon’s head lightly. Apparently, the feud was on pause.

“Wasn’t it your turn to cook tonight?” Ichigo drawled, but turned his head so that he could kiss her. “Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are yours, remember?”

Rukia scoffed and bit his lower lip lightly. “I cooked last night, _remember_? While you were working late.”

“You ordered in, that’s not the same thing,” Ichigo grumbled, but gently eased Kon off his lap and stood. “Don’t fight over that damn thing while I’m cooking.”

An investigation of the refrigerator produced broccoli, leftover chicken katsu, and a realization that they needed to go grocery shopping. Ichigo set up the rice cooker and while the rice within slowly began to cook up, he grated fresh ginger and garlic, chopped up the broccoli, and began to sauté first one and then the other in his pan. He mixed up a sauce and heated up a second pan for the chicken katsu.

There was another mix of Kon’s meowing and Rukia’s voice coming from the living room, unintelligible due to the sounds of sizzling food, and Ichigo rolled his eyes. “I’m going to lock that thing in the guest closet,” he mumbled to himself as he set the chicken in the dry pan and put a lid over the broccoli to let it steam briefly in the sauce.

Ichigo washed out Kon’s food bowl and filled it with a new can of cat food, then washed his hands again. “Dinner’s ready,” he called when the rice cooker dinged. He plated the chicken and broccoli, followed by the rice. Rukia strolled into the kitchen, Kon following behind her.

“Hmm, smells good,” she said, and caught him with a kiss on his way to the table. She poured ice water into glasses for each of them while Ichigo set down plates and chopsticks.

“Itadakimasu,” they both said when they were seated at the table. Ichigo served, scooping rice and broccoli onto each plate, as well as half of the chicken. Kon meowed at them both and then crouched before his bowl to wolf down his dinner.

“You know the cat’s going to be on your precious stuffed animal as soon as he’s done eating,” Ichigo pointed out while they ate.

Rukia sighed and pushed a lock of dark hair out of her face. “What am I supposed to cuddle with while we watch television?” she asked, and her bright amethyst eyes looked pleadingly into his.

Beneath the table Ichigo’s leg hooked hers gently. “Well you could cuddle with _me_ ,” he suggested.

She made a face at him, but her leg shifted to squeeze his. “I _suppose_ ,” she said teasingly, and bit into a piece of broccoli.

Ichigo was right: when they returned to the living room after cleaning up dinner, Kon was once again snuggled in the embrace of the giant plush rabbit. “That thing takes up so much room,” he complained. He gently pushed the rabbit to the far end of the couch, and Kon grumbled his annoyance but then settled down again. He found the remote and started up the next episode of The Witcher, then sat down. “C’mere,” he said, and held his hand out to Rukia.

She settled next to him, draping herself much like the cat had, with feet tucked up to one side and her body leaning against him. Ichigo’s arm curled over her and together they watched.

“Wow. Geralt is _really_ hot,” Rukia remarked partway through the episode. The image of the witcher in question, bare to the waist and lounging in a bathtub, filled the screen. “Really, _really_ hot.”

Ichigo looked down at her, an eyebrow arched. “Trying to make me jealous?” he asked and tugged lightly on the stray bang hanging down the center of her forehead.

She grinned up at him. “Why, are you?”

He snorted and leaned down, mouth covering hers. “No. You’re all _mine_ ,” he reminded her, and then leaned back against the side of the couch, dragging her with him.

“What about the show?” Rukia asked, but she wriggled to get closer to him, and kissed him before he could say anything.

Ichigo grabbed the remote and hit ‘pause’, then tossed the device onto the end table. “Later,” he mumbled, and wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. They kissed for a while, Rukia draped over him and their bodies pressed together from neck to knee.

Then Ichigo’s leg accidentally kicked chappy, dislodging Kon, who leapt from the couch hissing his displeasure and barely avoided being hit by the giant plush as it fell onto the floor.

“Ichigo! You kicked chappy!”

Kon hissed at him again and Ichigo’s head dropped back against the corner of the couch. Now instead of being mad at each other, his wife and his cat were both mad at _him_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own The Witcher, but Hese and Vero thought it would be funny if I used that as the show Rukia and Ichigo watch...so here we are.


	3. The Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo's going to lock that stupid plushie in the guest room closet.
> 
> After he takes a nap with it.

Ichigo was going to lock the giant chappy plushie in the guest room closet – he really was. He’d already had to repair the stupid thing’s feet, twice, after Kon’s too-enthusiastic claws broke open a couple of seams holding in the stuffing. Fortunately, Rukia hadn’t seemed to notice.

He was going to lock the chappy in the closet just as soon as he finished taking a nap on it, anyway. He had the afternoon off for once, after a long shift at the hospital. Rukia had apparently slept with the thing during his overnight shift at the hospital, and it was still on his side of the bed. Ichigo shoved it over to Rukia’s side as he stretched out atop the mattress wearing only the loose, dark blue pajama pants he preferred. Rukia was likely to be home by six, that was plenty of time for a nap, especially since it was her turn to cook tonight, and – Ichigo drifted off mid-thought, one arm flung over the plushie.

When Ichigo woke it was to the sound of a throat being cleared. Groggily, he rolled over in bed and glanced at the alarm clock; it was already a quarter after six. He scrubbed a hand through his bright orange hair and looked up at Rukia, who was standing, arms crossed, beside the bed. She was still in the dark purple sheath dress she’d worn to work that morning, although the black suit jacket was gone. “Hey,” he murmured, a smile curving over his face at the sight of her.

But then his wife spoke: “Do you have something to say for yourself?” she asked, voice stern. Her eyes flicked down to the floor, where Kon was sitting on his haunches beside her, tail swaying as he glared at Ichigo.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck and sat up. “Um. Sorry I was still asleep when you got home? I had to cover for one of the pediatric hospitalists, though, you know that. It was a really long shift.”

“That’s _not_ what I’m talking about,” Rukia announced, although he could see her lips twitch ever so slightly. “I’m talking about your _betrayal_ , Ichigo.”

The tangerine-haired man just blinked. “Huh?” he asked intelligently. Kon leapt up onto the bed beside him and Ichigo scratched behind his ears before Kon draped himself over chappy’s legs.

“You slept with chappy!”

Oh. Ichigo snorted and reached out, tugging one of Rukia’s hands away from her chest and pulling her so that she was standing between his spread legs. “Well you left it in bed this morning,” he pointed out. “And I was exhausted.”

“But chappy’s _mine_!” Rukia declared, although her lips twitched again and she let him pull her along.

Ichigo’s free hand found her hip and rested against it. “I thought you were annoyed that I don’t like chappy as much as you do,” he pointed out as he looked up at her. “And now my using that thing as a body pillow is a betrayal?”

“Well…” Rukia’s stern expression broke entirely and she laughed when Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. “ _You’re_ the one who keeps saying that the plushie is creepy and that Kon and I need to stop fighting over it.” Her hand came up to stroke through his hair, and Ichigo leaned into her.

“The plushie _is_ creepy and you _do_ need to stop fighting over it,” Ichigo protested, but he let out a soft huff of breath when Rukia’s slender hand cupped his cheek. “But it’s kind of cute that you hate sleeping without me so much that you and Kon are all over the thing whenever I’m not here,” he teased.

“Hmph. Who says I hate sleeping without you?” Rukia protested, but yelped when Ichigo just brought her closer with the hand on her hip so that she was practically in his lap.

“ _You_ do. Whenever I have to work through the night you have your rabbit-shaped body pillow in the bed when I get home.” Ichigo didn’t have to lean up very far at all to kiss her, lips brushing against hers gently. “Just admit it, your love of this stupid plushie is all because you can’t cuddle me when I work nights,” he said, a grin on his face.

“Chappy is an adorable plushie with a very cute story and my love of it has nothing to do with you!” Rukia protested, but her words were weak and she was smiling as she said them.

“Mhm. That’s why chappy was on my side of the bed when I got home this afternoon, I’m sure.” Ichigo’s lips covered hers a second time, and he relaxed back against the plush behind him when Rukia murmured against his lips and leaned into him, her upper body pressing against his. She was warm against him even through the cotton dress she wore.

“Shut up,” she mumbled, and Ichigo laughed, arm wrapping around her while the other braced himself so that he didn’t disrupt the cat and ruin _another_ make out session with his wife.

“I’m just saying,” he protested, as his hand stroked up and down her back.

“Hmph.” But Rukia let him pull her even closer, and they both stopped talking for a while. Eventually, Kon got up and stalked out of the bedroom in disgust, while the plushie found a new, temporary home on the floor.

And dinner was _very_ late that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to write something silly and fluffy. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by [Sei's depiction](https://handsome-kakigori.tumblr.com/post/620424965375885312/ah-yes-me-my-girlfriend-and-her-500-dollar) of Ichigo and Rukia in the "Me, my girlfriend, and her $500 four foot plushie" meme. Kon as the cat is inspired by Withered's "No Vacancy".


End file.
